by Katie Navarra
Traditionally, production and yield were a farmer’s primary focus. Today, the environmental impact of farming practices is also among the top priorities for many farmers. “We only used to look at the production of our fields,” said Donn Branton, owner of Branton Farms, LLC in LeRoy, NY, “today our goals include leaving the soil a little better than when we started working it.” [Read more…]
by Elizabeth A. Tomlin
“A lot has changed since we came back home in 2009!” said Rob Dygert of Dygert Dairy, Nelliston, NY.
Dygert had come back as the 13th generation farmer with his wife Shannon to take over the farm he had grown up on; a farm that has been in the family since 1723.
“We started out milking 60 cows in the original tie stall,” Dygert recalls. [Read more…]
by Sally Colby
When it comes to making hay, Clayton Geralds doesn’t pretend he can advise anyone how to grow hay, but he’s willing to talk about what works for him. Although Geralds grows hay in central Kentucky, the terrain and growing conditions are similar to those in the mid-Atlantic region. [Read more…]
by Sally Colby
Dairy producers who use pasture-based systems want to see healthy animals with good growth from the start. One aspect of managing cattle on pasture is managing their internal parasites.
Penn State extension veterinarian Dr. Robert Van Saun says that although internal parasites haven’t been a problem for most dairy herds in the past, they’re becoming more of an issue. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to parasite management. [Read more…]
Four Vermont 4-H teens have earned a spot on the state 4-H horse hippology team for their keen horse judging skills and in-depth knowledge of horses and the equine industry.
Callon Fish, Rutland; Lauren Hodsden, Bridport; Olivia Suker, Shrewsbury; and Kassidy Wyman, Cambridgeport; made the team after placing in the top four in the Senior Division (14 and older) at the State 4-H Horse Hippology Contest, April 2. The event took place at Kedron Valley Stables, South Woodstock (judging) and Woodstock High School, Woodstock (written test, cognitive and hands-on skills tests and identification stations). Hosts were University of Vermont (UVM) Extension 4-H and Windsor County 4-H. [Read more…]
by Tamara Scully
The dairy industry has been selectively breeding for specific traits for many years. Yet even today, it finds itself in need of new genetics, such as those for polled animals, or for producing milk on pasture. Some traits which selective dairy breeding has focused on have included: birthing ease; ketosis; mastitis and lameness.
“We can’t lose that to get new genetics,” Jen Burton, Veterinarian for Organic Valley CROPP Cooperative, speaking at the recent NOFA-NY Organic Dairy and Field Crop Conference, said. [Read more…]
by Laura Rodley
Walking through fire, barking dogs, blue and red flashing lights of a police car, gunfire and firecrackers. All these distractions were encountered by horses and their cavalry riders during a Mounted Police Confidence Training Workshop over Easter weekend, given by Bill Richey, a retired mounted police officer, the founder and CEO of National Mounted Police Services, training riders world-wide. [Read more…]
by Troy Bishopp
CAZENOVIA, NY — In the hills overlooking Oneida Lake, with its fertile and sometimes fragile Honeoye soil, stand fields of cover crops, contour strips, wildlife ponds, riparian buffers and plantations of trees sequestering carbon, moisture and precious topsoil. This is a testament to a farm family’s life-long conservation ethic.
It has been said, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” Pete Gianforte put his own twist on this adage by planting trees when he was a young farmer so his family and community could sit under them today. [Read more…]